Number’s one and two for the leading cause of death in the US may not surprise you. Heart disease kills 614,000 people a year, Cancer claims 591,000 lives a year, but the culprit responsible for 251,000 deaths a year may be the scariest killer of all. Medical Error claims this title and accounts for 9.5% of death in the United States. Everyone has heard “Horror Stories” of Medical Accidents like Surgeons leaving things in bodies and prescriptions being given to the wrong patient, but no one takes these stories seriously. Maybe we should. To put this in perspective, 251,000 deaths a year is roughly 700 a day and Medical Error Deaths take almost twice as many lives as all accidental deaths combined (i.e. Traffic Accidents, Fires, etc) Its time we investigate and better understand these medical errors to find a way to remedy it.
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Source: Washington Post